I have known for some time that I am sub-optimal at yard maintenance. I take a Darwinistic approach to gardening, for example - the strong survive and the weak die out. I reason that plants in the forest don't get fertilized and trimmed, so why do I need to do that to plants in my yard. Here in Seattle, we humans are only temporarily borrowing our yards from the forest,anyway. When 2012 happens, or North Korean nukes, or the big earthquake, or Rainier goes off, or space aliens attack and we are all wiped out, the forest will take back Seattle in about half an hour, give or take. Maybe a bit longer, but you see my point.
My retired neighbor operates on a higher level of yard care. His yard is spotless, trimmed, and perfect at all times. We are getting ready for a party next weekend and I amazingly remembered to check the hot tub this morning. The heater was completely powered off and the control panel was blinking the unhelpful message "OH" at me. Perhaps indicating, "OH! That is COOOOOLD water," because it was down to 45 degrees. I don't know. There was a bit of a wind last night, so while I was attending to the hot tub, my neighbor was out tidying up his yard. While I didn't even notice that my hot tub has apparently been powered off for days or weeks, my neighbor is out there right now - and I am not making this up or exaggerating - picking the pine needles and twigs from between the boards of his deck with surgical clamps. Try to imagine having that kind of free time on your hands. Well, I am off to run a dozen errands that will take me from Ballard to Tacoma and my pine needles will have to stay right where they are.
My retired neighbor operates on a higher level of yard care. His yard is spotless, trimmed, and perfect at all times. We are getting ready for a party next weekend and I amazingly remembered to check the hot tub this morning. The heater was completely powered off and the control panel was blinking the unhelpful message "OH" at me. Perhaps indicating, "OH! That is COOOOOLD water," because it was down to 45 degrees. I don't know. There was a bit of a wind last night, so while I was attending to the hot tub, my neighbor was out tidying up his yard. While I didn't even notice that my hot tub has apparently been powered off for days or weeks, my neighbor is out there right now - and I am not making this up or exaggerating - picking the pine needles and twigs from between the boards of his deck with surgical clamps. Try to imagine having that kind of free time on your hands. Well, I am off to run a dozen errands that will take me from Ballard to Tacoma and my pine needles will have to stay right where they are.
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